Euripides, Iphigenia at Aulis WHGC Faculty Meeting, 27 Feb ‘12 April Schwarzmueller and Heather Vincent
Some Background: The Author: Euripides, ca. 485 (mid 480’s)-406 BCE. Euripides may have authored more than 90 plays, of which 19 are extant. Although he won fewer first place victories at the Dionysia, the major festival at which playwrights competed, than Aeschylus or Sophocles, we would be wrong to infer, along with Aristotle, that his work is in some way qualitatively inferior to the former playwrights. (Euripides competed at the Dionysia 22 times, and won first place 4 times.) What we can say, however, is that Euripides’ style is considerably different, and in many ways, rather than looking backward at the tradition of choral monody (solo songs) and grand narrative, looks forward toward the psychological insights and character development found in the New Comic tradition. Date of composition: 408-406 BCE, performed posthumously. Historical/political context: Composition took place during last years of the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE), fought between the allied forces of Athens and the allied forces of Sparta. After 413, the focus of the war had shifted from the mainland of Greece and the western colony of Sicily to the Ionian coast, and in particular to the area around the Propontis (mod. Sea of Marmora). This context deeply informs many of Euripides’ tragedies, and many find in Euripides’ tales of the Trojan War a thinly veiled allegory of the conflict of his own period. It is significant to note that the ancient city of Troy, according to legend, lay near the Ionian coast just to the south of the straits of the Dardanelles below the Propontis, and expeditions of the Peloponnesian War would have brought the Athenians into close geographical contact with sites associated with this earlier war, which the Greeks regarded as one of the first defining moments of Greek history.
Why should we read this play? Although there are many reasons for choosing Iphigenia, we focus on three that are particularly important for our study in WHGC.
1. Challenges our notions of a “hero pattern” or “monomyth” (à la Joseph Campbell), which restricts heroism to a narrowly defined, male-gendered narrative containing particular stock elements omitting a vast tradition of women in tragedy and the complexity of female characterization in these narratives. On the contrary, one might argue that Greek heroines also follow a pattern of the “suffering hero”- type, one that is less gendered, reaching from Prometheus, the Greek Titan, who is tortured for the sake of humankind, even to the Christian tradition of Jesus. See other plays below that provide an alternative to this pattern (*). 2. Problematizes utilitarian approaches to justice, wherein the ends justify the means, and the few may be sacrificed for the safety of the many, by contrasting the baseness of the leaders, who concern themselves only with outcomes, and the ethical character of the sacrificed victim, who stands as a paragon of virtue despite her circumstances. Euripides, Iphigenia at Aulis WHGC Faculty Meeting, 27 Feb ‘12 April Schwarzmueller and Heather Vincent
3. Causes us to rethink the ways in which the narrative of a thing (i.e. what we are told about the myths of the Greeks, what we think we know about Greek tragedies) diverges from the thing itself (what we find in the myth if we can find a way to read it apart from its appropriated usages).
(*) FYI. Some similarly themed plays by Euripides:
Children of Heracles—after Heracles’ death, King Eurystheus, who had been responsible for H’s labors hunts down H’s wife and children who have sought refuge in Athens. Eurystheus declares war on Athens for not surrendering H’s family. In the preparations for war, Athens receives an oracle stating that they will only be successful if a virgin is sacrificed to Persephone. The daughter of Heracles, Macaria, willingly sacrifices herself for the sake of the city. Hecuba—the wife of Priam, who was enslaved after the fall of Troy. This play tells the story of the loss of Hecuba’s last two children who had survived the war. She loses her son, Polydorus due to the treachery and mercurial nature of the king Polymestor who had been charged with his safe keeping. In this play, the ghost of Achilles has appeared to the Greeks and reproached them for failing to honor his tomb properly. The Greeks, under the influence of Odysseus, decide to sacrifice the Polyxena, the young daughter of Hecuba, to appease the spirit of Achilles. Polyxena refuses to beg for her life, but instead is led proudly to her death. Her bravery is heralded by the Greeks. Andromache—wife of the Trojan hero Hektor, whom Achilles killed. After the war, Andomache was enslaved as Achilles’ concubine and slave to Neoptolemus (Achilles’ son). While Neoptolemus is away, his wife Hermione and her father Menelaus attempt to have Andromache killed. A. is saved by Achilles’ father Peleus. Just as Agamemnon is the supreme villain in Iphigenia, his brother Menelaus is the villain in this play. A. is a hero for her unjust suffering at the hands of her captors, and as a reward, Thetis, the mother of Achilles, prophesies that she will be freed and will live in Molossia, where Achilles’ lineage will live on.
Activities – Day 1: 1. Some easy beginnings:
Sacrifice scene from Cacoyannis’ Iphigenia (1977): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGMmFwL_Wb4&feature=related
Ellen McGlaughlin, Iphigenia and Other Daughters (1995[?]): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyauVY_Ocwo&feature=related
Euripides, Iphigenia at Aulis WHGC Faculty Meeting, 27 Feb ‘12 April Schwarzmueller and Heather Vincent
2. Close reading exercise – 1) Understanding the issue of translation; 2) Understanding how the chorus explores justice.
Have students read aloud the three translations below. The goal of this exercise is two- fold. First, it will reinforce a realization that what they are reading is as much an interpretation as it is a translation. It is not Euripides, but Euripides interpreted by Roche. Second, it will provide a starting point to discuss where justice and a sense of right come from. Where are they located and how manifested? And according to whose translation are our assertions more/less valid? p. 237 “Antistrophe” (Roche) Euripides, lines 558-572
Translation by P. Roche (1998)
Great is the variety of human beings, Great the variety of their ways, But true virtue is the same, And virtue is bred by discipline, And wisdom lies in reverence Which charms right-thinking into bloom, And gives to life a lasting glow. Character is everything. Let us as women shelter it In love that’s chaste. But for a man The world is full of different ways To show his service to the state.
Translation by E.P. Coleridge (1891)
Men's natures vary, and their habits differ, but virtue is always manifest. Likewise the training that come of education conduces greatly to virtue; for not only is modesty wisdom, but it has also the rare grace of seeing by its better judgment what is right; whereby a glory, ever young, is shed over life by reputation. A great thing it is to hunt virtue, for women when they love secretly; while in men, an inborn sense of order, shown in countless ways, adds to a city's greatness.
Translation by Vincent (2012). An ugly, but literal rendering:
Euripides, Iphigenia at Aulis WHGC Faculty Meeting, 27 Feb ‘12 April Schwarzmueller and Heather Vincent
Different are the natures of mortal men, different their ways; but what is truly good is always clearly seen: A well-educated upbringing adds much to excellence of character: to feel shame and respect is wisdom, and it holds a surpassing grace: to see by dint of knowledge what is necessary and right. Then your reputation will bring you the kind of fame that does not grow old with age. It is something great to strive for excellence, and for women the excellence is hidden in Aphrodite’s realm, but for men, the adornment that enriches the city is inborn and of manifold appearance.
Activities – Day 2 1. Make a new model of heroism based on Iphigenia.
In The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1974, 2nd ed.), Campbell claimed to “bring together a host of myths and folktales from every corner of the world, and to let the symbols speak for themselves.” He charged, “the parallels [are] immediately apparent; and these develop an amazing vast and constant statement of the basic truths by which man has lived throughout the millennia of his residence on the planet” (Campbell xiii). In his effort to present a universal truth about gods and heroes, C. alleged that hero stories follow a standard, predictable, and universally applicable pattern, the steps of which are outlined in the diagram below. We can compare the story of Gilgamesh, a hero whose journey adheres well to the pattern Campbell describes.
Ask students to think about Gilgamesh or Moses as standard representatives of this model. Have them outline events that conform to Campbell’s pattern. Next, ask them to construct a different model based on Iphigenia. Ask them to think not only about events, but also what the events symbolize. If Campbell’s model describes humankind’s desire to achieve immortality, what does the model of Iphigenia imply? Euripides, Iphigenia at Aulis WHGC Faculty Meeting, 27 Feb ‘12 April Schwarzmueller and Heather Vincent
Figure taken from: Campbell, Joseph. 1972. The Hero with a Thousand Faces, 2nd edition. Princeton University Press. p. 212.
2. Reflection exercise on the notion of a “hero pattern” or “monomyth”. This exercise may be useful if your students have been very familiar with the Joseph Campbell approach and if you are interested in addressing objective #3 above: understanding how the narrative of a thing (i.e. what we are told about the myths of the Greeks, what we think we know about Greek tragedies) diverges from the thing itself. On a deeper level, this exercise may also help your students begin to learn how literature “reads us” as we “read it.” An individual, paired, or group discussion and writing exercise. Read Adrienne Rich’s “Diving into the Wreck,” and ask students to respond to the following questions: 1) What does the ‘wreck’ represent? 2) What does this wreck have to do with ancient literature? 3) Who and what is meant by ‘our names’ in the last line of the poem? 4) How does this poem relate to the story of Iphigenia and the stories of Greek heroes as they have been told to us?
Rich, Adrienne. 1973. “Diving into the Wreck.” Diving into the Wreck: Poems 1971-1972. W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. Euripides, Iphigenia at Aulis WHGC Faculty Meeting, 27 Feb ‘12 April Schwarzmueller and Heather Vincent
First having read the book of myths, you breathe differently down here. and loaded the camera, and checked the edge of the knife-blade, I came to explore the wreck. I put on The words are purposes. the body-armor of black rubber The words are maps. the absurd flippers I came to see the damage that was done the grave and awkward mask. and the treasures that prevail. I am having to do this I stroke the beam of my lamp not like Cousteau with his slowly along the flank assiduous team of something more permanent aboard the sun-flooded schooner than fish or weed but here alone. the thing I came for: There is a ladder. the wreck and not the story of the wreck The ladder is always there the thing itself and not the myth hanging innocently the drowned face always staring close to the side of the schooner. toward the sun We know what it is for, the evidence of damage we who have used it. worn by salt and away into this threadbare beauty Otherwise the ribs of the disaster it is a piece of maritime floss curving their assertion some sundry equipment. among the tentative haunters.
I go down. This is the place. Rung after rung and still And I am here, the mermaid whose dark hair the oxygen immerses me streams black, the merman in his armored body. the blue light We circle silently the clear atoms about the wreck of our human air. we dive into the hold. I go down. I am she: I am he My flippers cripple me, I crawl like an insect down the ladder whose drowned face sleeps with open eyes and there is no one whose breasts still bear the stress to tell me when the ocean whose silver, copper, vermeil cargo lies will begin. obscurely inside barrels half-wedged and left to rot First the air is blue and then we are the half-destroyed instruments it is bluer and then green and then that once held to a course black I am blacking out and yet the water-eaten log my mask is powerful the fouled compass it pumps my blood with power the sea is another story We are, I am, you are the sea is not a question of power by cowardice or courage I have to learn alone the one who find our way to turn my body without force back to this scene in the deep element. carrying a knife, a camera a book of myths And now: it is easy to forget in which what I came for our names do not appear. among so many who have always lived here swaying their crenellated fans between the reefs and besides Euripides, Iphigenia at Aulis WHGC Faculty Meeting, 27 Feb ‘12 April Schwarzmueller and Heather Vincent
Activities – Day 2 (continued) 3. Discussion exercise designed to make connections with other texts. Although we are reading Iphigenia at Aulis at the beginning of the “Justice” section, this work also fits well with the “Power” theme we have just concluded. We could pose questions for students to work on in pairs (or larger groups) to help them make connections between the topics and readings.
For example:
a) Evaluate each of the following individuals as “leaders” according to Machiavelli’s description of a good leader: Othello, Othello; Iago, Othello; the SS officers, Night, Agamemnon, Iphigenia; Menelaus, Iphigenia.
(Same idea in a different format: If you like using charts to create visual representations, you could have students complete the grid [see attached], filling in each space with passages from each text to support their arguments.)
b) Examine individuals in each of the works we have read this semester regarding which of French and Raven’s “Five Forms of Power” they demonstrated (from Prof. Brunello’s lecture).
(see second attached grid)